Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon survived the effort to recall him Monday after the petition failed to meet the required number of signatures.
The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC) determined that out of the 715,833 total signatures, 195,783 were invalid, according to an RR/CC news release. The petition required 566,857 signatures in order for a recall election to be eligible.
Over 88,000 of the invalid signatures were signed by citizens who were not registered to vote, and 43,593 were duplicates, the news release said. Over 32,000 of the signatures had a different address, while several thousands were identified as a mismatch or canceled.
Big news out of Los Angeles: the effort to recall DA George Gascón has FAILED to qualify for the ballot. https://t.co/FqJ5TjsWgq
County found too many signatures were invalid (28% of total: recall organizers could afford 22% invalid rate.)
Next regular election is 2024.
— Taniel (@Taniel) August 15, 2022
In July, the agency announced their intention to count all of the signatures collected by the Recall DA George Gascon recall campaign, who has led the effort to remove the district attorney from office. (RELATED: ‘Out Of Control’: California DA Blasts George Gascon, ‘Woke’ Prosecutors Amid Crime Surge)
“We remain confident the requisite 566,857 verified signatures to qualify the recall were submitted, and that once the recall qualifies, Gascon will be removed from office in a landslide,” the organization said in a July 14 statement.
The group has accused Gascon of being “soft on crime” and directing prosecutors to “coddle criminals” on their website. The district attorney has received widespread backlash by many in his district for his prosecutorial decisions toward criminals.
The left-wing district attorney, who received $2 million in financial backing from financier George Soros, reportedly refused to prosecute nearly 12,000 cases in his first year in office. The Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA), a union which represents Los Angeles County prosecutors, voted overwhelmingly in favor of Gascon’s recall, according to The Guardian.
The ADDA sued Gascon in December, 2020, for trying to dismiss enhancements against a criminal accused of killing a Los Angeles County deputy. A judge ruled that his new policies violated California’s “Three Strikes” law, which states that an individual can have jail time added to their sentence if convicted of two felony charges.
Gascon also refused to impose the death penalty for parents who allegedly killed and tortured a 10-year-old boy in May.
The murder rate in Los Angeles rose 35% since Gascon took office in 2020, according to Bloomberg. Crime rose 137% in West Hollywood between 2021 and 2022, according to KTLA.
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin was recalled in June after facing similar backlash for his alleged soft-on-crime approach.
Recall DA George Gascon did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.